I was so sad to hear about Robin Williams and Lauren Bacall passing away this week. Lauren Bacall was a classy lady and I was so sorry to see her go. Robin Williams' death was just a shock and a tragedy. My dad was a huge fan of his when I was growing up. He was so delighted when we got cable and he discovered Nick At Nite had reruns of Mork and Mindy. My dad suffers from a lot of mental health issues as well and I always wondered if he saw some of himself in Robin. It was a sad week of losses, for sure.

So, let's talk about the rest of my week.

Monday was incredibly exhausting and physically uncomfortable - (ultrasound tech had to push hard against my ribs and eye doctor made me sit all hunched forward with my head in a weird position for an hour) - and the day was indeed 7 hours from beginning to end, but the eye test at least came back good and stable. I'll know about the liver test at the end of the month. A nice lady at the eye doctor offered to hold an umbrella over us because my sister was trying to push my wheelchair in the rain. And the tech wanted to talk about Orange is The New Black with me and then also turned out to be a Hawaii Five-O fan, which was adorable and fun. But in the waiting room some terrible little children kept bugging us and touching our things and their mother didn't seem to mind at all that they were talking to strangers. Then the little 3 year old called me 'that ugly thing' and I told him he was rude and mean and he needed to get away from us and go sit with his mother and stop talking to strangers. Then he wandered off into the back of the clinic and his 7 year old sister had to chase after him and his mother didn't even pay any attention to the whole affair. And when we came out of the clinic, someone had left their two little pups in the car during storm-inducing humidity and we had to call the cops on them. But good test results for me, so yay! Totally exhausted afterwards, recovered by laying on the couch watching tornado documentaries all evening.

Tuesday I had my Medicaid hearing and then physical therapy. I plan to give you the whole Medicaid debacle at some point, but for now, I have Medicaid again! And I no longer have a spend-down, which means more money for me! No one got their ass handed to them though and someone there should have, because this has been a clusterfuck. PT was fine, but all of my favorite aides have left to go back to college and it was Thing 2's last day forever - (grad school next) - and I thought we both were going to cry. That Medicaid thing though...you don't even know how elated I am. After months of dealing with this, I am finally getting proper coverage and care and it is a huge weight lifted off me. I celebrated my finances being freed up again after months by going to Target and spending money! (got new makeup case and makeup, pajamas, swimsuit, cat toys, knife set for my sister!)

Wednesday was Mom's surgery and they actually went through with it! Attempt #4 has been a success! She had it done, made it through all good, and got to come home after. Her recovery seems to be going quite well as far as how she is feeling and what she is able to do for herself and I am shocked and amazed. I was convinced they just weren't going to do it and my sister was convinced Mom would die on the table and neither of those things happened and I feel overwhelmed by it all and in disbelief. Today she says she has a bit of tooth poking through her gums, but the doctor thinks it must be bone, but either way she will probably have to have a follow up tomorrow, just to get it checked out, but no fever or signs of infection, so I think it will be okay. She seems to be doing really well and I think if she makes it through like Sunday without an infection that we will be in the clear. Hopefully this will actually have all of the benefits the doctors think it will and Mom's life will be happier and healthier. My sister and I celebrated by going to see Into The Storm. For the second time.

Today I spent relaxing and catching up on TV (So You Think You Can Dance) and reading my book (the Orange is the New Black memoirs.) Tomorrow more therapy and The BFF.

Crazy week. Suffering through summer reading grading for AP. Can't decide if I am glad or disgusted that over half of the kids did not bother (glad: don't have to grade it. mad: don't be such lazy fucks, you fucking lazy fuckers who think you're so great but have no evidence proving it!).

Movies: GoTG is WONDERFUL!

Mom's surgery: Thank heavens, what an enormous relief, I'm so glad!

Medicaid: See comments on Mom above!

Tests - ugh, but yay for good results.

Evil children are evil. Hit them with rocks. (not really, but sheesh, crappy mother much?)

Robin Williams - SO AWFUL. I wish that knowing how much he impacted people's lives for the better could have made a difference in HIS life. I've teared up randomly all week. Lauren Bacall - not as sad, because she had a full long life.

Gotta get back to the grading. Hope to write this weekend. Mentioning again: two new short pieces on my journal that you might like if you haven't cruised on by. So crazy this week I can't remember. Boo!

Thank you, babe! Yes to all of this! Such a relief to be done with last week and and that it all went well. And holy shit, GotG was awesome! I am oddly attracted to Rocket, but despite him being a raccoon, I don't think you will be all that surprised by this confession.

Evil children are evil. Hit them with rocks. (not really, but sheesh, crappy mother much?)

I told myself if that little boy came at us one more time with his rude inappropriateness, I was going to tell him to get away from me before I beat his ass. Now, I never would, but I bet I could have said that to him and his mom wouldn't have even noticed. Thankfully, they called me back into the room right then. These kids were suffering from obvious malnutrition, combined with the behavior I saw form their mother, means they were being pretty severely neglected and that was as upsetting (or more upsetting actually) than anything they were saying and doing.

Robin Williams - SO AWFUL. I wish that knowing how much he impacted people's lives for the better could have made a difference in HIS life. I've teared up randomly all week. Lauren Bacall - not as sad, because she had a full long life.

Lauren Bacall was not as sad, but it came the day after Robin Williams o\passed and was just too much to take. I can't even bring myself to mention the Robin Williams thing to my dad, because the comparisons between the two of them is too much for me and it will just upset me all over again.

YOu do tend to like the short and furry dudes: Hobbits, for example! Dwarves, also. And Christian Kane. And Misha Collins. OMG, ROCKET TOTALLY FITS YOUR TYPE! :P

AHAHAHAHA See, it totally makes sense. Actually, Rocket is just a tiny furry version of Jayne Cobb and you KNOW how I feel about Jayne Cobb!!!

Can you report her to child services, maybe? I'm sure the doctor's office has all of her information....

I may have been able to say something to the receptionist at the time I was there but odds are they would have just asked the mother to calm her children down as they were disrupting patients. They certainly wouldn't give me any of the people's information so that I could accurately report what I was seeing (using the terminology I was trained to report with) because of medical privacy issues. Sadly, I see way too many kids fall through the cracks, as I assume you do too.

I'm legally obligated to report suspect situations. Can't even pass them on to Guidance any more - I must do the referral myself. It's very depressing and nerve-wracking.

Yeah, in child care you are legally obligated to report as well. Back in my day - lol - we were always taught to tell the head boss and let them report and then they could refer the social worker to us for an interview if needed. However, I turned in 4 different cases of abuse, at two different jobs, and not one of them was ever actually reported by my bosses. I was young - teens to early 20s - so I didn't take the initiative I should have and in at least one case, I really regret it because something really bad was going on with that girl. My last boss actually got in trouble with social services when a teacher reported bruises on a kid and my boss not only hadn't reported it as well, but poo-pooed the social worker about it when they showed up. Sometimes I really wanted to strangle my bosses.

What a week! I'm very glad to hear that after so much stress, things are looking up both for you and for your mom.

Thank you! It was a lot to have coming at us all at once, but we made it through and it was all for the best, so I am relieved. <3

I look forward to seeing "Into the Storm" when it's available on Netflix. I adore 'disaster' movies.

Oh, me too! I think we've exchanged a favorites-list before. Into The Storm was like a combo of Twister and Storm Chasers - both ridiculous things I love. Plus, Richard Armitage was very hot in it. (I thought my sister was going to get us thrown out of the theater with her hysterics over how hot 'Thorin' was. ;)

Okay, mostly good news. Good test results (so far), your mom made it through and you got the Medicaid situation resolved. Thank goodness. Sadness that you are losing your fave PT aides, but you always seem to make new friends there so I am hoping for positive experiences in the future. It may have been an exhausting and nerve-wracking week, but it seems pretty good overall.

My week has been fine. I had one of those 'what happens in SF stays in SF' weekends, but I was more careful Sat night so my Sunday recovery was not nearly as painful. This week has been insane trying to catch up on work after being gone for so much of the summer. I am chairing a search committee for two management positions and we are bringing in six candidates for all-day interviews over the next two weeks. I don't have to be with them all of the time, but it is going to take a big chunk of my time. I have about 18 things starred in red in my inbox (which means take care of this right the fuck now) and about 50 others with marked with exclamation points (which means you'd better take care of this soon), and a whole bunch more starred in yellow (which means please don't ignore this).

I wish gmail allowed you to customize these symbols, because I would replace the various stars, question points, and exclamation points with little Dean faces making different expressions.

I had an interesting visit with my doctor yesterday. I went in because the varicose veins in my left leg that I have had for about 10 years are now starting to hurt and I want surgery. She's giving me a referral but then took the opportunity to tell me how many tests I need to have done because its been too long since I had been into the doctor (believe me when I read your posts, I count my blessings that this is the case). And when I told her I wanted to skip the mammogram this year she must have spent 10 minutes trying to get me to change my mind. I am 51 years old now, but I still found myself breaking out in a sweat because I didn't want to argue with her, but wanted to stand firm. It was a bizarre experience -- like being called in front of the Principal for misbehaving.

Tomorrow I am meeting my niece and her mom at the Giants game in SF. I think tonight they are at Paul McCartney's concert at Candlestick Park. I'm a little envious.

Okay, mostly good news. Good test results (so far), your mom made it through and you got the Medicaid situation resolved. Thank goodness. Sadness that you are losing your fave PT aides, but you always seem to make new friends there so I am hoping for positive experiences in the future.

Thanks, babe! Yeah, things seem to have all worked out, which is a relief. And I know I'll get used to the new aides, but some of these people have been there for three of four years and it is hard to see them go. I have to get used to it - I'll be a patient there for the next 20+ years at least - and their young aides will come and go.

My week has been fine. I had one of those 'what happens in SF stays in SF' weekends, but I was more careful Sat night so my Sunday recovery was not nearly as painful.

LOL Okay, I won't ask then, since I'm not in SF! 8)

I wish gmail allowed you to customize these symbols, because I would replace the various stars, question points, and exclamation points with little Dean faces making different expressions.

LOL, omg! That would be awesome!

I had an interesting visit with my doctor yesterday.

Good luck with the surgery! Keep me updated. Ugh, mammograms are the worst. I feel you on the gearing yourself up to argue with the doctor thing - I always have to fight with my docs about not getting a pap smear - (I just won't do it, never been to a gyno either, fuck that, my liver's gonna be the thing that kills me, I'm not adding another doctor to the list) - and not having like a flu shot or a pneumonia shot - (people with extreme compromised immune systems like me often get sick from the shots themselves and since I am not out in public spaces a lot these days, I'm not doing it. Plus, I hate needles!)

Tomorrow I am meeting my niece and her mom at the Giants game in SF. I think tonight they are at Paul McCartney's concert at Candlestick Park. I'm a little envious.

How was the game? I mean, I am a Detroit girl all the way, but I do have a soft spot for SF. They have some great guys on that team. And amazing fans in the seats! Don't be jealous of the McCartney concert (though Candlestick Park would be a good place to see him play). I saw a McCartney concert once and it was not fun. Of course, we were packed into a stadium and the guy behind us was drunk off his ass, but it was just not my scene. I also saw a Paul Simon concert once, in an outdoor 'everyone sits on the hill' kind of setting and it was the best concert I've been too. So I don't think the bad experience was McCartney's fault in any way - just a bad setting.

apparently I forget to spell check this, good lord, it was full of typos!

The SF game was okay -- 10 innings and they ended up losing to the Phillies, which was unexpected. We had better seats than I expected and a few rows behind us there was a guy who kept yelling out HILARIOUS editorial comments. He had us laughing through the whole game, so that was fun. We also had dinner before the game at a great restaurant that I definitely hope to visit again.

My niece and her mom had a fantastic time at the McCartney concert, but getting back to the hotel afterwards was not a great experience for them -- they ended up walking part of the way through a not great part of downtown and didn't get to their hotel until 1:45AM. They were relying on public transportation but they told me that the people with cars had even more of a problem. It doesn't explain in this story, but I think it is because the people who used to direct traffic in and out of the parking lots have now been laid off since Candlestick is closed. I don't know how the hell they were expecting to manage the concert traffic.

Glad to hear about the Medicaid coming through for you. (This why I don't grumble about my taxes at tax time.)

Also glad to hear your mom is better.

Now you know why that kid is so rude. Kids don't know if they are being rude or misbehaving, an adult has to tell them. Now I'm wondering what life will be like for him 20 years from now. And why do people have kids, but don't parent them or care for them? (Okay, I'll admit that I'm one of those crazies that sometimes thinks we should put everyone on birth control, and then if folks want to have kids, they have to take a parenting class.)

Glad to hear about the Medicaid coming through for you. (This why I don't grumble about my taxes at tax time.)

Thank you! And I appreciate you not grumbling about taxes. ;) Seriously, my own father bitches all the time about paying his taxes to fund these 'lazy welfare' people and I'm like, "Uh, hi, Dad?" Once he was in the waiting room with my sister, waiting for me to come out of surgery, bitching about Medicaid and how we should get rid of it and my sister was like, "You realize your daughter wouldn't be having this surgery right now if it weren't for Medicaid, right?" and my dad went, "Oh, uh...well, that's different." /shakes head/

Also glad to hear your mom is better.

Thank you! I am still in such shock over it all going so well! :)

Now you know why that kid is so rude. Kids don't know if they are being rude or misbehaving, an adult has to tell them. Now I'm wondering what life will be like for him 20 years from now. And why do people have kids, but don't parent them or care for them?\

YES! All of this. After I stopped being upset about the things they were saying, I just couldn't stop thinking about how those kids have no chance at a decent life. They were pale and skinny (I learned all about signs of malnutrition in my early education classes and these kids were definitely suffering from it), and the girl's hair was all ratty looking, their clothes were way too big. They weren't just unsupervised in a waiting room - they were neglected kids. And they clearly don't know not to talk to strangers. They weren't even a little wary of strangers, which means one of these days these kids are going to get snatched or abused or something and their mother won't even notice. It was upsetting to think about.

Health insurance is a pain, I've been in the process of getting a new plan as my old one was cancelled as it didn't fit the new requirements. Which is good because better plan but still signing up isn't always fun.

Yes, exactly. It's great it all worked out, but wow it was a lot coming at me all in one week! :)

Health insurance is a pain, I've been in the process of getting a new plan as my old one was cancelled as it didn't fit the new requirements. Which is good because better plan but still signing up isn't always fun.

It's so much blahblah and paperwork, I feel your headache on that. I have had Medicaid since I turned 18, so Idek why all of sudden there was a big snafu with the whole thing. Or why it took 6 months to fix!

Ugh, those kids were horrible, a waiting room isn't a daycare center.

If it had been a daycare center, I could have handled it better! Just put my hands on his shoulders, make him look me in the eyes and then explain why his behavior was rude and inappropriate. Then redirect him to an activity. But they weren't our kids to supervise and you can't put your hands on someone else's child (not that their mom wold have noticed) and you can't just start 'parenting' someone else's kids like that, especially a stranger. /shakes head/

I am finally getting proper coverage and care and it is a huge weight lifted off me. I celebrated my finances being freed up again after months by going to Target and spending money!I wish certain politicians understood that this is exactly how it works and by making healthcare affordable they will boost the economy, it is really that simple (plus - healthier nation).

My week: Dad was home (ungh), sis and her puppy were home (YAY!), I will be a volunteer at my old school (where mom works) for 10 months, starting in September (volunteering is subsidized by the state so I will recieve some pocket change at least, working 20 hours a week) and that's about it. :-D

Oh and I got into Archer, I love the show. I don't watch it in order, more like catch it whenever I can on TV but I still love it (favourite moment - when the bad guys shot the tiger before Archer and he got sad about it...and his love for the ocelot) :-D

I wish certain politicians understood that this is exactly how it works and by making healthcare affordable they will boost the economy, it is really that simple (plus - healthier nation).

Right? I have spent almost $300 since the Medicaid hearing got cleared up, on things that I have needed since March (and I couple things that I just wanted) but was afraid to buy because I thought I was going to end up having to pay those hospital bills. And now I am saving up money to help us get a new car! Al good for the economy!

My week: Dad was home (ungh),

Yeah, family visits aren't always good things. I know that feeling,

sis and her puppy were home (YAY!),

YAY! And the volunteer job is cool too! You all get paid for volunteering? I volunteered at the school my mom worked at too and all I got was a good reference for future job hunting. Very cool that you'll get a little bit of cash, if not a ton!

Oh and I got into Archer, I love the show. I don't watch it in order, more like catch it whenever I can on TV but I still love it (favourite moment - when the bad guys shot the tiger before Archer and he got sad about it...and his love for the ocelot) :-D

LOL I have never seen this show, but everything I have ever heard about it makes it sound like a hysterical trip!